Updated June 15, 2019 13.3K votes 2.3K voters 31.9K views
Voting Rules
Studio albums only, and no compilations
Every Queen studio release, ranked by fan votes from best to worst. Queen were one of the most popular bands of the Seventies and Eighties worldwide - they were massive in the US until Hot Space, and huge in the UK, Europe, Japan, and many other countries throughout their entire career - in fact their last 5 albums each sold even more in the UK than their Seventies classics. Greatest hits compilations are not included, but we left the Flash Gordon soundtrack in. Do you prefer the classic News Of The World over the singles-laden The Game? Or are your favorites the early hard rock classics? Or the more pop-oriented releases of the Eighties, before Freddy Mercury's sad untimely death? This is your place to weigh in on the top albums by Queen or get a recommendation if you are new to this classic group, who featured one of the absolute greatest singers of all time as well as a bunch of other talented musicians, all of whom wrote songs.
A Night at the Opera is the fourth studio album by the British rock band Queen, released in November 1975. Co-produced by Roy Thomas Baker and Queen, it was the most expensive album ever recorded at the time of its release. A commercial success, A Night at the Opera has been voted by the public and cited by music publications as one of Queen's finest works.
The album takes its name from the Marx Brothers film A Night at the Opera, which the band watched one night at the studio complex when recording. The album was originally released by EMI in the United Kingdom, where it topped the UK Albums Chart for four non-consecutive weeks, and Elektra Records in the United States, where it peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 and became the band's first platinum selling album in the US.
Tracks: Sweet Lady, Bohemian Rhapsody, Death on Two Legs (Dedicated To…)
Sheer Heart Attack is the third album by British rock band Queen, released in November 1974. It was produced by the band and Roy Thomas Baker and distributed by EMI in the United Kingdom, and Elektra in the United States.
The album launched Queen to mainstream popularity both in the UK and internationally: the first single, "Killer Queen" reached No. 2 in the British charts and provided them with their first top 20 hit in the US, peaking at No. 12 on the Billboard singles chart. Sheer Heart Attack was also the first Queen album to hit the US top 20, peaking at No. 12 in 1975. Digressing from the progressive themes featured on their first two albums, this album featured more conventional rock tracks and marked a step towards the classic Queen sound. In recent years, it has been listed by multiple publications as one of the band's best works.
Tracks: Now I’m Here, In the Lap of the Gods… Revisited, Dear Friends
Queen II is the second studio album by British rock group Queen, released on 8 March 1974. It was recorded at Trident Studios, London in August 1973 with co-producers Roy Thomas Baker and Robin Cable, and engineered by Mike Stone.
The two sides of the original LP were labelled "Side White" and "Side Black", with corresponding photos of the band dressed in white or in black on either side of the record's label face. It is also a concept album, with the white side having songs with a more emotional theme and the black side almost entirely about fantasy, often with quite dark themes. Mick Rock's album cover photograph was frequently re-used by the band throughout its career, most notably in the music videos for the songs "Bohemian Rhapsody", and "One Vision".
Released to an initially mixed critical reception, Queen II remains one of the band's lesser-known albums. Nonetheless, the album has retained a cult following since its release, has garnered praise from musicians such as Axl Rose, Steve Vai and Billy Corgan, and is significant in being the first album to contain elements of the band's signature sound of multi layered overdubs, vocal harmonies, and varied musical styles.
Tracks: White Queen (As It Began), Some Day One Day, Ogre Battle
A Day at the Races is the fifth album by British rock group Queen, released in December 1976. It was the band's first completely self-produced album, and the first not to feature producer Roy Thomas Baker. Recorded at Sarm East, The Manor and Wessex Studios in England, A Day at the Races was engineered by Mike Stone. The title of the album followed suit with its predecessor A Night at the Opera, taking its name from the subsequent film by the Marx Brothers.
The album peaked at #1 in the UK, Japan and the Netherlands. It reached #5 on the US Billboard 200 and was Queen's fifth album to ship gold in the US, and subsequently reached platinum status in the same country.
A Day at the Races was voted the 67th greatest album of all time in a national 2006 BBC poll.
Tracks: Long Away, Good Old‐Fashioned Lover Boy, The Millionaire Waltz
News of the World is the sixth studio album by British rock group Queen, released in 1977. Containing the hit songs "We Will Rock You", "We Are the Champions" and "Spread Your Wings", it went 4x platinum in the United States, 2x platinum in the United Kingdom and achieved high certifications around the world.
News of the World was the second album to be produced solely by the band and recorded at Sarm West and Wessex Studios, London and co-produced and engineered by Mike Stone.
Tracks: My Melancholy Blues, Fight From the Inside, Sleeping on the Sidewalk
Innuendo is the fourteenth studio album by British rock band Queen. Released in February 1991, it was the final studio album to be released in Freddie Mercury's lifetime and is the last to be composed entirely of new material. It reached No. 1 on the UK album charts as well as in the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. It was released in the United States one day after its release in the United Kingdom. It was the first Queen album to go gold in the US upon its release since The Works in 1984.
The album was recorded between March 1989 and November 1990. In the spring of 1987, Mercury was diagnosed with AIDS, although he was keeping his illness a secret and denied countless media reports that he was seriously ill. The band and producers were aiming for a November or December release date in order to catch the crucial Christmas market, but Mercury's declining health meant that the release of the album did not take place until February 1991. Stylistically, Innuendo is in some sense a return to Queen's roots, with its harder rock sound, complex musical composition, psychedelic effects, and strong vocals from Mercury ranging over four octaves.
Tracks: I Can't Live With You, All God's People, Delilah
